Glove with wrap-around fastening means



Feb. 20, 1968 G. s. sMsTH 3,369,258

GLOVE WITH WRAPARGUND FASTENING MEANS Filed Aug. 5l, 1966 FIG. 4. 28

INVENTOR. GILBERT I. SMITH OLDHAM & OLDHAM ATTORNEYS United StatesPatent O 3,369,258 GLVTE Wl'lfH WRAP-AROUND FASTENHNG MEANS Gilbert li.Smith, 3096 47th Ave. N., St. Petersburg, Fla. 33714 Continuation-impartof application Ser. No. 516,376, Bec. 27, 1%5'. This application Aug.31, 1966, Ser. No. 576,376

6 Claims. (Cl. 2-159) ABSTRACT 014 THE DiSCLOSURE A iiexible straphaving two pairs of wrap-around means or portions with fastening meansthereon for securing the glove to the palm and wrist of a wearer.

This invention relates to a ilexible, stretchable, generally X-shaped,weighted strap adapted to be secured to a hand to act as a golf glove.

This is a continuation-in-part of my prior application Ser. No. 516,376,tiled Dec. 27, 1965, and now abandoned.

It is the general object of the invention to provide an improved,exible, stretchable, strap which can be easily applied to the wrist andhand so that the palm of the hand is protected by the strap to prevent agolf club or the like from blistering the hand, while at the same timenot restricting the use of the hand, thumb, and fingers of the user sothat a golf club can be better gripped.

It is another' object of the present invention to provide a thin,flexible, weighted section on the palm of the glove which absorbs theshock of a mis-hit golf shot and also gives a solid impact to the ballresulting in more distance for a golf shot. Further, the added weight tothe golf glove forces the hands to come to a :better follow throughafter the golf swing.

Basically, the objects of the invention are accomplished by provding agenerally X-shaped strap having a thumbhole cut therein at the joint ofthe two lower legs of the strap, an integral center portion of the strapbeing adapted to extend over the palm of the wearer, a thin layer ofmetal shot `which is adhesively secured to substantially all of theintegral center portion of the strap, a cover piece which is sewed tothe integral portion of the strap to cover the layer of shot andfastening means located on each upper leg and each lower leg of thestrap whereby the upper legs are looped around the base of the fingersand secured to each other at the back Aof the hand by the fasteningmeans located thereon and the lower legs of the strap are wrapped aroundthe wrist and secured to each other at the back of the wrist by thefastening means located thereon.

For a better understanding of the apparatus of the invention, referenceshould be had to the following drawings wherein:

PIG. l is a plan view of the golf glove of the invention;

FIG. 2 is an elevation of a persons left hand showing how the golf gloveof the invention is wrapped around the hand and secured thereto:

FIG. 3 is an enlarged vertical section taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 1;and

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary, greatly enlarged cross sectional view takenalong line 4--4 of FIG. 1, particularly illustrating the weight pocketof the golf glove of the invention.

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With particular reference to the drawings, the numeral 10 generallyindicates`a strap of suitable, exible, high strength, resilient fabric12 such as vinyl Textileather, produced by General Tire & Rubber Co. IofAkron, Ohio, which is coated on one side with a suitable plastic orother synthetic coating material 14 which imparts not only an attractivelook but also a desired wear resistant nish to the outside surface ofthe strap. The fabric 12 is usually a knitted or woven textiles'tretchable in one direction (arrow 15), but having very little stretchin the other direction (arrow 16). The coating 141i is usually apolyvinyl chloride provided with a surface finish simulating leather andwhich has a surface friction assisting in gripping the golf club.

In the manufacturing process, the strap 1@ is cut out or blanked intothe X-shape indicated in FIG. l. A keyhole-shaped Aopening 18, forming athumbhole, is simultaneously cut in the strap and then the straightsides of the opening are overlapped and sewed, or otherwise attachedtogether, with the sewing being indicated generally by the numeral 20.As the sides are sewed together to form the thumbhole 18, the fabric ofthe strap in the area 22 becomes tilted and the edge of the hole 1S israised toward a vertical position and out of the plane of the strap, asbest illustrated by FIG. 3. The purpose of such a tilt is to insure thatthe strap lays flat against the similarly tilted area of the handbetween the thumb and index finger when the two lower legs 24 and 26 ofthe strap are wound around a wrist and then joined.

An integral center portion 28 of the strap is adapted to extend over thepalm of the wearer as the glove is worn. Secured to the integral portion28 is a cover piece or weight pocket, generally indicated by the numeral30. As is best illustrated by FIG. 1 and FIG. 4, the weight pocket 30 isformed from a fabric sheet 31 which is secured to the center portion 28of the strap as by stitch ing 32, although any suitable securing meanscould be utilized. The fabric sheet 31 is formed from the same type offabric as forms the strap 1G and also is coated on its outside surfacewith a plastic coating material similar to coating 14. The purpose ofWeight pocket 30 is to cover a thin layer of metal shot 34 which hasbeen secured to substantally all of the portion 28 of the strap 10 as bya soft and/or ilexible adhesive layer 36, for example, rubber cement. Asis best illustrated by FIG. 4, the shot 3d partially embeds in theadhesive layer 36 and the shot 34 is of a suiciently small size, such as.010, so that the entire center portion of the strap is still quitellexible even though the weight pocket 3@ lhas been incorporated intothe golf glove.. Preferably the shot are screened or otherwise checkedto insure use of substantially uniform size shot particles. The purposeof the weight pocket is to give added weight to the center portion 28 ofthe golf glove since this portion of the glove is where the club will begripped and the added weight of the shot 34 helps absorb the shock of amishit shot. The added weight also is believed to give a solid impactresulting in more distance and improved follow through of the golfswing. Although only one layer of the shot 34 is illustrated two layersof the shot 34 preferably are used. Thus, the layer of a suitable`rubber cement adhesive 36 may be applied between the ultimately opposedfaces of the center portion 28 and of a fabric sheet 31 with the shotparticles ybeing uniformly distributed into the adhesive layer so thatthere are two layers of shot 34 with an adhesive layer 36 therebetween.Or, a mixture of the adhesive and shot may be made and be applied to thecenter portion 2S of the strap as a uniform layer to provide a depositof shot normally about one or two shot particles thick.

FIG. 2 illustrates the way in which the golf glove is worn on the lefthand of the golfer. The first step in putting on the golf glove isgenerally to slip the left thumb through the thumbhole 18 so thatintegral portion 2S and weigh pocket 3l) of the strap lay over and coverthe palm. The integral portion 2S not only covers the palm of the hand,but as is best illustrated by FIG. 2, also extends to and covers a majorportion of the lower finger joints. Since the golf club is usuallygripped by cradling it in the palm and lower lingers, the integralportion 28 and weight pocket 3l) cover these portions of the hand whenthe golf club is grasped.

The two lower legs 24 and 26 of the strap are then looped around thewrist and pulled tight to the wrist and secured together by fasteningmeans 38 and fill, fastening means 38 being located on the underside ofthe leg 24 and fastening means l0 being located about in the midpoint ofthe upper side of the leg 26. The fastening means 38 and t0 aregenerally of the hook and burr type which are sewn to the strap at theareas indicated. In this type of fastening means, the hook portion ofthe fastening means is adapted to engage tightly but releasably with therelatively soft fibrous section or burr section of the fastening meanswhen the strap is snugly engaged with the wrist. Velcro fasteners, madeby American Velcro, lne., of Manchester, Vt., are typical of suchattachment means.

A pair of integral upper legs Li2 and 44textend laterally from the topof the strap lt), and fastening means 46 and 48, similar to the hook andburr type previously described, are secured to the strap at the ends ofthese legs 42 and 44. The purpose of such fastening means 46 and 48 isto permit the legs 42 and 44 to be wrapped around the back of the handand to be releasably secured to each other by the fastening means on theback Iof the hand at the base of the lingers, as illustrated by FIG. 2,This securing of the legs 42 and 44 snugly holds the center portion 2Sand the weight pocket 30 snugly in place on the palm and prevents itfrom liapping or slipping when the golf glove is used to aid in grippingand holding a golf club. lt should be pointed out that both thefastening means 38 and 4t?, and the fastening means 46 and t3 need notalways engage with each other at precisely the same point, ibut byselectively adjusting where the fastening means engage with each other,one can regulate the desired looseness or tightness of the golf glovewhile it is secured to the hand, and the golf glove is also adapted tofit different size hands and wrists.

Usually about 4 oz. of the shot is present in the pocket, which shot andits flexible positioning adhesive facilitate the gripping of a club by awearer of the glove. Neoprene contact adhesives are one type of adhesivefor use in the invention.

While a certain representative embodiment and details have been shownfor the purpose of illustrating the invention, it will be apparent tothose skilled in this art that various changes and modifications may bemade therein without departing from the spirit or scope of theinvention.

What is claimed is:

l. A glove comprising a generally X-shaped strap having a pair of upperlegs and a pair of lower legs, the strap having a thumbhole cut thereinat the joint of the two lower legs of the strap, an integral centerportion thereof adapted to extend over the palm of the wearer and tocover the major portion of the lower linger joints of the wearer,

weight pocket means secured to and covering substantantially all of thecenter portion of said strap,

metal shot contained within said weight pocket means,

fastening means located on each upper leg wherein the integral portionof the strap is adapted to be held in position over the palm as the pairof upper legs are looped around the base of the lingers and secured toeach other at the back of the hand by said fastening means located oneach upper leg and second fastening means located on each lower leg ofthe strap whereby the two lower legs of the strap are Wrapped around thewrist and secured to each other at the back of the wrist by said secondfastening means located on each lower leg.

2. The combination according to claim 1 wherein the material of thestrap forming the thumbhole is tilted to raise one edge of the thumbholeout of the plane of the strap and to flatly engage the hand between thethumb and the index finger as the strap is worn.

3. The combination according to claim l wherein one of the lower legs ofthe X-shaped strap is formed shorter than the other with the secondfastening means being located on the end of the short lower leg and themiddle of the long lower leg whereby a thumb is inserted in thethumbhole and the long lower leg of the strap is wrapped over the wristand to the back of the hand, and the short lower leg of the strap iswrapped over the wrist to the back of the hand and into engagement withthe fastening means on the middle of the long lower leg of the strap.

4. The combination according to claim l wherein said metal shotcontained within said weight pocket means is of small substantiallyuniform size and is adhesively secured to adhesive layers coated to thecentral portion of the glove and the underside of the weight pocketmeans.

5. A glove comprising,

a generally X-shaped strap, having a pair of upper legs and a pair oflower legs substantially wider than said pair of upper legs, one of saidlower legs being shorter than the other, said strap having a thumbholetherein intermediate the two lower legs of the strap, an integralportion of said strap being adapted to extend over the palm of thewearer and to cover the major portion of the lower linger joints of thewearer, the material of the strap forming the thumbhole being tiltableto raise one edge of the thumbhole out of the plane of the strap and toatly engage the hand between the thumb and the index lingers as thestrap is worn,

fastening means located on each upper leg wherein the integral portionof the strap is adapted t-o be held in position over the palm as thepair of upper legs are looped around the base of the fingers and securedto each other at the back of the hand by said fastening means located oneach upper leg, and

second fastening means located on the end of the short lower leg andsubstantially at the middle of the long lower leg whereby when a thumbis inserted in the thumbhole and the long lower leg of the strap iswrapped over the wrist and onto the back of the wrist, and the shortlower leg of the strap is wrapped over the wrist to the back of thewrist, said second fastening means is brought into engagement.

6. A glove comprising a flexible glove means including a generallyX-shaped strap having a thumbhole therein and an integral center portionadapted to extend over the palm of the wearer and the lower sections ofthe lingers of the wearer, one set -of two legs of said strap beingadapted to extend around the wrist of the wearer and the other set oftwo legs being adapted to be wrapped around the backs of the lingers ofthe wearer,

means for securing the legs of said sets of legs together to attach theglove to the wearers hand,

pocket forming means secured to and covering substantially all of thecenter portion of said glove means to form a flat pocket therewith, and

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 11/ 1916 Hockenhuil 2-20 X 3/1921Hinze 2-20 6 2,270,882 1/1942 Link 2-159 3,108,285 10/1963 Turnidge eta1. 2-16l FOREIGN PATENTS 19,5 83 11/ 1900 Great Britain.

JORDAN FRANKLIN, Primary Examiner.

G. V. LARKIN, Examiner.

